Connecticut Stampede
The '''Connecticut Stampede '''are a virtual football franchise in the United Football League, and are based out of Hartford, Connecticut, USA. The team is a part of the UFL's Atlantic Conference, and are a member of the Atlantic Conference Coastal Division, and they play their home games at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Formed in 2014, the Stampede were one of the first teams in the UFL, and have been owned and operated by Mallory Hoffman since the team's inception. The team has competed in two league championship games, having won both of them in 2014 and 2017 respectively. With these two championship wins in franchise history, they are good enough to be the most championships of any single UFL franchise in league history, making the Connecticut Stampede arguably the most successful franchise in UFL history. Along with two league championships, the Stampede have won the Atlantic Conference Championship twice, whilst also earning the top seed in the Atlantic Conference in the 2014 season. The Stampede have also won the Atlantic Conference Coastal Division twice, in both 2018 and 2019. The team's head coach is Neal Jack, who has been the team's head coach since the franchise's inception in 2014, earning a 27-19 record since taking over control as the team's head coach as of September 2019. During the 2018 offseason, the Stampede hired Joe Vitt to serve as Offensive Coordinator, and James Stevens to serve as Defensive Coordinator. Also during the 2018 offseason, the Stampede hired William Walsh to serve as the team's General Manager. History Zachary Serra-era (2014-2019) In the 2014 UFL Quarterback Draft, the Stampede selected four different quarterbacks, with the first pick in the UFL Draft being Stampede's selection of former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer. With the Stampede's second and third round picks being former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne respectively, the Stampede would select little-experienced Zachary Serra in the fourth round, originally selecting him to play slot receiver. After an impressive training camp, Serra would earn the backup quarterback spot behind quarterback Christian Ponder, only for Ponder to go down with a torn ACL in the preseason, effectively making Serra the starting quarterback for the team's first game. Despite having little professional experience, Serra would lead the Stampede to an Atlantic Conference-best 5-1 record with help from favored-target Ted Ginn at receiver, eventually leading the Stampede to a league championship victory over the Skylar Howard-led Cincinnati Lynx at the end of the season, making the Stampede the inaugural UFL champions. During the following offseason, Serra would sign a new three-year contract worth over $5M dollars, making him the highest paid quarterback in the league, whilst also making him a guaranteed role on the Stampede offense throughout the 2017 season. During the 2015 season, Serra and the Stampede would continue to improve, but would fall to a 3-3 record due to emerging competition in the Atlantic Conference from the Kansas City Core and New York Sentinels, but would earn the third and final seed in the Atlantic Conference playoff picture, only to be eliminated by the second-seeded Kansas City Core in the Divisional Round, ending the Stampede's quest to repeat as UFL champions. During the following offseason, the Stampede would lose receiver Ted Ginn and halfback Doug Martin, but would bring Serra help on the offensive line, bringing in then-49ers lineman Joe Staley to add to the Stampede's protection. However, during the 2016 season, Serra would go down in the first week with a season-ending ACL injury, thus forcing the Stampede to turn towards backup quarterback Jon Kitna, which would prove to be ineffective as the Stampede would finish the season with a 2-4 record, missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. During the following offseason, Serra would begin talking with the Stampede about the possibility of a contract extension, only for the team to refuse, electing to ride out Serra's final year on contract in hopes of truly finding out whether or not Serra would be their franchise quarterback moving forward. During the same offseason, the Stampede would bring in former 49ers receiver Quinton Patton to add to Serra's weapons, which would prove to help out tremendously as Serra would target Patton more often than any other Stampede receiver, assisting the Stampede to a 4-2 record to finish the season, earning the second-seed in the Atlantic Conference, finishing just behind expansion-franchise the Orlando Crusaders. However; during the postseason run, owner and operator of the Stampede Mallory Hoffman would openly question Serra's ability to bring the team into a push towards the league championship, which Serra would use as fuel whilst leading the Stampede to the Atlantic Conference Championship, where the Stampede would defeat the top-seeded Orlando Crusaders before defeating the Vegas Demons in the championship game, giving the Stampede their second league championship in franchise history, the most of any franchise at the time. When negotiating with the Connecticut Stampede on a contract extension, Serra would hold out on re-signing with the franchise in return for what he described as Hoffman's "disrespect and blind-refusal" of what Serra had done for the Stampede franchise. Despite the woes with management, Serra would re-sign with the Stampede on a two-year, $14M deal, making him the team's starting quarterback through 2019. During the 2018 season, Serra and the Stampede would continue on their success from the prior year, ending the season with a 4-2 record to win the Atlantic Conference Coastal Division, as well as earn the second-seed in the Atlantic Conference. However; despite many experts predicting the Stampede to repeat as league champions, the Stampede would be upset by the third-seeded Atlanta Bravehearts to end their season early and in disappointment. During the offseason, the Stampede would let go of breakout halfback Corey Clement, opting to roll into the extended 2019 UFL season with unproven commodity Dare Ogunbowale leading the team's running game. Whilst Ogunbowale would find success in the 2019 UFL season, Serra would injure the wrist on his throwing hand during a Week 4 matchup, finishing out all sixteen games of the season battling through injury. Serra would lead the Stampede to a mediocre 9-7 record, which would be good enough to win the Atlantic Conference Coastal Division for the second-consecutive year, as well as the second seed in the Atlantic Conference. However; after dropping five of the final seven games of the season, including the team's regular season finale, the Stampede would be eliminated by the division rival Orlando Crusaders in the Divisional Round, ending the Stampede's season early for the second-consecutive year. Despite serving as the Stampede's emergency kicker for the majority of the 2019 UFL season, Serra would express dissatisfaction with the organization and it's ownership in the 2019 offseason. Stampede owner Mallory Hoffman would try to schedule contract extensions with Serra, at one point offering Serra $20M over the following four years to continue playing quarterback for the Stampede, but Serra would return the favor to Hoffman from her comments two years prior by announcing his retirement from professional football during the offseason, thus leaving the Stampede without a franchise quarterback and ending the Zachary Serra era for the franchise. Post-Serra Era and Rebuilding (2019-present) Following Serra's retirement, the Stampede would shift their focus towards finding a new franchise leader during the 2019 offseason. During the free agency period, the Stampede would sign former Cleveland Browns and Memphis Express quarterback John Manziel to play for the team at the quarterback position on a one-year deal worth only $2M. However; after questions arose in regards to William Walsh's plans for the future at quarterback, the Stampede would use their first-round pick during the 2019 UFL Draft to select former UMass quarterback Ross Comis as their quarterback of the future. Going into the 2019 season, the Stampede would roll with Manziel as their starting quarterback whilst sitting Ross Comis on the bench in order to learn during his rookie year.